Pile driver



Jan. 7, 1969 HIRO WASHITA 3,420,320

FILE DRI VER Filed Feb. 23, 1967 Hmo WASl-HTA QM luveu-roil.

Jan. 7, 1969 HIRO WASHITA PILE DRIVER Sheet Filed Feb. 25, 1967 luvem'nr. HKio UA-EAMTQ N PxGN Jan. 7, 1969 HIRO WASHITA 3,420,320

PILE DRIVER Filed Feb. 25, 1967 Sheet 3 lnve ,\\RQ WASHVTA "w 4415* KM United States Patent Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pile driver which has on a first support a boom which carries a second support for longitudinal movement along the boom, this second support carrying a drive for a rotary assembly of telescoped pipes, which at its bottom end carries a rotary screw. This screw is situated at least partly within a tubular receptacle for receiving material displaced by the screw. After the receptacle is filled, it can be raised together with the screw away from the location where the opening is formed to receive a pile. The screw itself can then be turned with respect to the receptacle to empty the latter and then the operations can be resumed. The connection of the receptacle to the rotary telescoped pipe and screw assembly is such that the receptacle need not turn so that the rotary screw and the telescoped pipe assembly which drives the latter are capable of rotating with respect to the receptacle, which, however, is constrained to move axially with the screw while receiving the material displaced thereby. The support which is carried by the boom and which in turn carries the telescoped pipe assembly and the drive means therefor is longitudinally shiftable along the boom while the telescoped pipe assembly itself can be extended and retracted. In this way, the elevation of the screw, which is to say the depth to which it can extend into the ground, is adjustable not only by way of the telescoped pipe assembly, but also by way of movement of the support for the telescoped pipe assembly along the boom.

Background and summary of the invention The present invention relates to pile drivers.

Known pile drivers may roughly be classified into tWo groups. One group operates by impact, a suitable hammer being repeatedly dropped on the pile to drive the latter into the ground. Pile drivers of this type can be used where the piles have a relatively short height and are to be driven only to a relatively small extent into the ground and, in addition, the piles themselves are of relatively small diameter. This type of pile driver creates considerable noise during its operation.

The second group includes apparatus which actually digs into the ground to form an opening to receive the pile, cement being poured, for example, simultaneously with the lowering of the pile into the hole which is formed in the ground therefor. This type of pile driver does not create any disagreeable noise and has no particular restriction with respect to the size of the pile, but conventional pile drivers of this type are seriously lacking in efiiciency. Thus, the first type of pile driver is limited in its range of application and creates disagreeable noise, while the second type is very inefficient.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a pile driver of the second type which is far more efiicient than conventional pile drivers of this type. This novel pile driver can handle relatively large piles, both with respect to length as Well as diameter, without producing any undesirable noise.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a pile driver which enables the pile to be fixed in the ground without requiring the pouring of liquid concrete, as is conventional.

These and other objects are achieved with the present invention by providing a support means which turnably carries a boom extending in a generally upward direction from this support means and which is turnable about a generally horizontal axis with respect to the support means. A suitable hydraulic means is connected between the support means and the boom for adjusting the angle thereof.

According to one of the features of the invention, a second support means is carried by the boom for shiftable movement therealong, and an elevation-adjusting means is operatively connected with this second support means for adjusting the position thereof along the boom. A-n elongated rotary means in the form of an assembly of telescoped pipes of non-circular cross section is supported for rotary movement by the second support means which, in addition, carries a drive means for rotating the elongated rotary means. A lower portion of the latter fixedly carries a rotary screw which is capable of digging into the ground. A second elevation-adjusting means is connected to the assembly of telescoped pipes to lower the screw so that it will engage the ground and dig into the latter. This screw is capable of moving along the interior of a hollow tubular pile and pivotally carries a pair of opposed blades which automatically spread out as the result of the resistance of the ground, to cut into the latter a bore which is of a diameter at least as large as that of the pile, these blades retracting themselves into the hollow pile when the screw is raised.

An elongated tubular receptacle is carried also by the lower portion of the elongated rotary means and at least partly overlaps the screw so that material displaced from the ground by the screw will be collected in this receptacle. A releasable connecting means of the invention releasably connects the receptacle to the elongated rotary means for axial movement therewith while permitting the rotary means and the screw to turn with respect to the receptacle. A release means is carried by the second support for automatically releasing the connection between the receptacle and the elongated rotary means and screw when the receptacle is raised to the elevation of the second support means. A holding means holds the receptacle next to or adjacent the second support means when the connection between the receptacle and the elongated rotary means is released. At this time, it is possible to rotate the screw so as to empty the material from the receptacle, after which the operations can be resumed.

Brief description of the drawing The above and other objects and features of the invention will become more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view, partly in section, of one embodiment of a pile driver according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partly sectional side elevation of part of the structure of FIG. 1, as seen from the side opposite to that which is visible in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional elevation, enlarged as compared to FIG. 2, showing. the releasable connecting means for releasably connecting the receptacle to the rotary means, the section of FIG. 3 being taken in a vertical plane which contains the axis of the rotary means; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic top plane view of the pile driver of FIG. 1.

Detailed description Referring now to FIG. 1, the structure illustrated therein includes a first support means 1 in the form of a vehicle which includes a suitable cab carried on tracks which are capable of being driven so that the entire pile driver can propel itself at the location where the piles are to be driven. The frame of the support means 1 includes a horizontal shaft 3 which serves to support an elongated boom 2 pivotall on the support means 1 for turning movement about the generally horizontal axis defined by the pivot shaft 3.

A pair of elongated angle-adjusting means 4 are respectively connected by ball joints 6 to opposite sides of the support means 1 and are pivotally connected at their upper ends to a bracket of the boom 2, so that extension and contraction of the adjusting means 4 will adjust the angle of the boom 2. Thus, during transportation or for other purposes, it is possible to lower the boom, while during actual pile driving operations it is possible to adjust the boom so that it will extend vertically irrespective of the angle of the ground on which the support means 1 is located. Each of the angle-adjusting means 4 includes a piston 7 connected by the ball joint 6 to the support means 1 and a cylinder 8 which receives the piston so that, by introduction or withdrawal of suitable pressure liquid, it is possible to adjust the angle to the boom. Thus, the angle-adjusting means 4 is hydraulically operated.

A second support means 13 takes the form of a suitable frame which is longitudinally movable along the boom 2, so that the boom 2 forms a guide for guiding and supporting the second support means 13 for movement to a selected elevation. A suitable cable 12 extends around a pulley carried by a bracket 9. This cable is capable of being wound onto and paid out from a driven winch carried by the support means 1, so that this construction forms an elevation-adjusting means for adjusting the elevation of the second support means 13.

The second support means 13 supports for rotary movement an elongated rotary means 18 in the form of a plurality of telescoped pipes of square cross section, the innermost pipe 20 being indicated in FIG. 1. This innermost pipe is connected at its top end, through a suitable swivel connection, to the bottom or free end of a cable 11 which is guided over a pulle 19 carried by a bracket 10 which is fixed to the boom. This cable 11 is also wound onto and paid out from a winch carried by the support means 1 and driven in any suitable way, so that it is possible to adjust the elevation of the elongated rotary means 18. More particularly, the elevation of the innermost pipe 20 will be regulated in this way, the other pipes of the telescoped pipe assembly 18 longitudinally sliding with respect to each other during lowering and raising of the innermost pipe 20. For this purpose, each of the telescoped pipes carries at its ends suitable flanges for coacting with the adjoining pipe during raising and lowering of the innermost pipe 20. The drive is transmitted from the outermost pipe of the assembly of telescoped pipes to the inner pipes to drive the pipe 20 which is the innermost pipe, all of these non-circular pipes rotating as a unit.

A drive means is carried by the second support means 13 for rotating the rotary means 18, and this drive means includes a driving motor 14 (FIG. 2) which drives a pinion 15 which meshes with a gear 16 supported for rotary movement in any suitable bearings of the support means 13 and fixedly carrying a drive plate 17 formed with a square hole through which the outermost pipe 0 the rotary means 18 extends. Thus, the cable 11 will raise or lower the innermost pipe 20 while all of the telescoped pipes will rotate as a unit when the motor 14 operates. Motor 14 is reversible and can be controlled in any suitable way by the operator.

The lower portion of the rotary means 18, formed by the lower end of the innermost pipe 20, fixedly carries a rotary screw 21 which includes the shank 22 and the helical screw member 36 which is fixed to and extends spirally along the shank 22.

The structure of the invention further includes an elongated tubular receptacle 23 which surrounds and is spaced from the screw 21 and which partly overlaps the latter at an upper portion thereof, as is particularly apparent from FIG. 2. This receptacle 23 has an open bottom end so that material displaced from the ground upwardly by the rotary screw will be displaced into the receptacle 23 to be collected therein.

A releasable connecting means is provided for releasably connecting the receptacle 23 to the lower portion of the rotary means 18 for axial movement therewith while at the same time permitting the rotary means and the screw to turn with respect to the receptacle 23. The details of this releasable connecting means are shown most clearly in FIG. 3 from which it will be seen that the receptacle 23 fixedly carries in its interior, adjacent its upper end, an annular bearing member 25 having an upwardly directed bearing surface supporting a ring 26 of a third support means, this ring 26 being fixed to an annular plate, which is fixed at its outer periphery to the ring 26 and at its inner periphery to a hollow sleeve 24 which surrounds the lower portion of the rotary means 18 with clearance, as indicated in FIG. 3. The bearing 25 has fixedly connected to its top end a ring which extends over the top surface of the ring 26 so that, while the ring 26 is free to rotate with respect to the bearing 25, the latter is compelled to move axially with the ring 26. The horizontal annular plate which extends between and is fixed to the rings 24 and 26 fixedly carries at its upper surface a pair of brackets 27 which serve pivotally to support a pair of lock levers 28 which are urged upwardly at their outer ends by springs 29 in the manner shown in FIG. 3.

The inner ends of the lock levers 28 extend through slots 31 formed in the sleeve 24, and the springs 29 respectively urge the levers 28 into engagement with the bottom ends of these slots 31'. The slots 31 communicate with the guide passage 31 defined 'betwen the inner surface of the sleeve 24 and the outer surface of the innermost pipe 20 at the lower end portion of the latter, and this innermost pipe 20 fixedly carries at its bottom end a pair of lock members 30 respectively having downwardly directed shoulders engaging the inner upper corners of the levers 28 so as to lock the latter between these shoulders and the bottom ends of the slots 31', thus providing a releasable locking of the receptacle 23 to the rotary means 18 and the screw 21 for axial movement therewith, while at the same time permitting the rotary means and the screw to turn with respect to the receptacle 23. It will be noted that the lock members 30 are of a substantially wedge-shaped configuration and taper in a downward direction.

When the elevation-adjusting means, which includes the cable 11, raises the screw 21 and the receptacle 23 so that the top end of the latter becomes located adjacent to the lower portion of the support means 13, release members 33 enter into the top end of the receptacle and engage the levers 28 at their outer ends to move these outer ends downwardly in opposition to the springs 29, thus raising the inner ends of the levers and displacing them to their unlocking positions. Thus, elements 33 form a release means for releasing the releasable connection between the receptacle and the rotary means 18. If desired, as indicated in FIG. 2, only a pair of release members 33 may be provided for respectively engaging the outer ends of the lock levers 28. In this case, the motor 14 is actuated to turn the rotary means to an angular position where the levers 28 will be aligned beneath the release members 33.

FIG. 3 illustrates a clearance between the bottom end of the guide sleeve 24 and an upwardly directed surface at the connection between the screw 21 and the pipe 20 which enables the latter to move upwardly through the slight distance necessary to provide for free turning of the levers 28 to their unlocking positions when the receptacle 23 is raised to its highest elevation.

In order to hold the receptacle 23 next to the underside of the second support means 13 when the releasable connecting means of FIG. 3 is in its released position, a holding means is provided. This holding means includes the left stop member shown at the lower left end of the support means 13 in FIG. 2 as well as a shiftable holding member 32 capable of being hydraulically actuated by the pressure of hydraulic fluid in a cylinder-and-piston assembly 32. This hydraulic structure is actuated to shift the holding shoe 32 to the left, as viewed in FIG. 2, so as to engage the top end of the receptacle and hold it against the stationary shoe shown at the lower left of the support means 13 in FIG. 2, so that in this way the receptacle 23 will be retained in its upper position when it is disconnected from the rotary means. At this time, the screw 21 and the pipe 20 are capable of moving axially with respect to the stationary receptacle 23.

As is indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the screw portion 36 of the screw 21 pivotally carries a pair of enlarging blades 35 respectively pivotally connected by pivot brackets 34 to the screw 36 in the manner shown most clearly in FIG. 2. With this construction, when the enlarging blades 35 engage the ground, they will automatically spread out as a result of the resistance given to these blades by the ground. They will, therefore, cut in the ground an opening of a diameter at least as great as that of the pile 37, as is particularly apparent from FIG. 1. On the other hand, during upward movement of the screw 21, these blades 35 will, by their own weight, swing at the pivot brackets 34 inwardly toward the screw 21, toward the shank 22 thereof. In this way, they will automatically enter into the pile 37 in the manner shown in FIG. 2. Thus, while the blades 35 can automatically retract themselves towards the shank 22 so as to enter into the tubular pile 37, nevertheless they are capable of spreading out to provide an opening at least as great as that of the outer diameter of the pile, and in fact somewhat larger than this outer diameter.

It will "be noted that the screw 21 terminates at its lower end in a drill or tip 38 which etficiently digs into the ground.

During the rotation of the screw 21, the material displaced thereby is raised up by the screw 36 into the receptacle 23 to be collected therein. When the receptacle 23 is filled, the motor 14 is stopped so that the drive of the elongated rotary means 18 and the screw 21 is terminated, and the innermost pipe section 20 is raised by the cable 11 so that the entire structure moves upwardly through the pile 37 until the top end of the receptacle 23 reaches the lower portion of the support means 13. The cab of the support means 1 is then swiveled in a well known manner to displace the receptacle and screw away from vertical alignment with the pile, and the material displaced by the screw is retained in the receptacle 23 at this time by the screw portion 36 itself. When the receptacle 23 is thus swung to a desired position, the drive means 14 is actuated to turn the screw 21 in a reverse direction which will cause the screw 36 to dis place the material out of the receptacle 23 so that this material will simply drop to any desired location. It will be noted that, even if this material has a clay-like consistency, it will nevertheless be reliably displaced out of the receptacle. It should be noted in this connection that, at this time, the receptacle 23 is disconnected from the screw 21 while being held by the force of the shoe 32, with the elements 33 holding the lock le er 18 in raised positions, so that not only can the screw 21 be rotated but by way of the cable 11 it can be raised and owered with respect to the receptacle 23, thus providing an efficient emptying of the latter.

Then the cab is turned back to its original position, the holding shoe 32 is retracted by the hydraulic means 32', and the rotary means 18 is extended by lowering the innermost section 20 thereof so that the screw 21 will now be lowered together with the receptacle 23 and the springs 29 will automatically return the lock levers 28 to their locking positions shown in FIG. 3, so that now the structure can be lowered and the operations resumed.

It will be noted that the elevation of the'screw can be determined not only by the telescoped pipe assembly 18 but also by regulating the elevation of the support means 13. In addition, it is to be noted that the receptacle 23 need not rotate together with the screw and the rotary means 18, so that the drive provided for the rotary means need not overcome the resistance which would be encountered if the receptacle 23 were constrained to rotate together Wit-h the screw. Thus, considerably less power is required by reason of the fact that the receptacle 23 can remain stationary, advancing only axially with the rotary means and the screw, while not being constrained to rotate therewith. Furthermore, the enlarging blades 35 serve to transmit the soil which is displaced thereby efficiently to the screw 36 which very efliciently raises this soil into the receptacle 23. Also, it will be seen that the construction of the invention operates in a substantially noiseless manner and can handle any prefabricated pile of any substantial length and diameter.

What is claimed is:

1. A pile driver comprising first support means, a boom carried by said first support means, second support means carried by said boom, elongated rotary means extending generally parallel to said boom and supported for rotary movement by said second support means, drive means carried by said second support means and operatively connected to said elongated rotary means for rotating the latter, said elongated rotary means having a lower portion situated beneath said second support means, rotary screw means fixed to said elongated rotary means at said lower portion thereof for rotary movement with said elongated rotary means and for penetrating into the ground to form therein a bore for receiving a pile, and an elongated hollow tubular receptacle carried also be said lower portion of said elongated rotary means and surrounding and at least partly overlapping said rotary screw means to receive in its interior material displaced by said rotary screw means, said second support means and said elongated rotary means forming a pair of means at least one of which is movable up and down so that it is capable of changing its elevation, and elevation-adjusting means carried by said first support means and operatively connected to said one of said pair of means for raising and lowering the latter, whereby after said receptacle has received material displaced upwardly into said receptacle by said rotary screw means said receptacle together with said screw means can be raised and displaced to a location where said receptacle can be emptied before returning to increase the depth of a pile-receiving opening formed by said rotary screw means.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said boom extends upwardly from said first support means and has a lower end connected to said first support means for turning movement with respect thereto about a generally horizontal axis, and angle-adjusting means operatively connected to said first support means and said boom for adjusting the angle of the latter with respect to said first support means.

3. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said second support means is carried by said boom for longitudinal movement therealong, and said elevation-adjusting means being operatively connected with said second support means for adjusting the elevation of the latter along the said boom.

4. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said elongated rotary means includes a plurality of telescoped pipes of non-circular cross section the outermost one of which is operatively connected with said drive means to be rotated thereby, said elevation-adjusting means being operatively connected to the innermost one of said pipes for controlling the elevation of the latter, and said innermost pipe forming the lower portion of said elongated rotary means to which said screw means is fixed.

5. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said rotary screw means includes a shank, a screw extending helically along and fixed to said shank, and a pair of opposed enlarging blades pivotally carried by said screw for extending outwardly beyond the latter when said blades engage the bottom of an opening formed by said screw, said blades by their own weight automatically swinging inwardly toward said shank during raising of said screw means together with said elongated rotary means from the bottom of an opening formed by said screw, said enlarging blades when extending outwardly from said screw providing for an opening formed by said screw means a diameter at least as great as the outer diameter of a pile which is to be received in the opening, and said enlarging blade swinging into the interior of a pile during raising of the screw means away from the bottom of the opening formed thereby.

6. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a releasable connecting means releasably connects said elongated receptacle to said lower portion of said rotary means for axial movement therewith while providing for rotary movement of said elongated rotary means and said screw means with respect to said receptacle so that the latter is not constrained to rotate with said screw means and elongated rotary means.

7. The combination of claim 6 and wherein said second support means has a lower portion carrying a release means which coacts with said releasable connecting means for releasing the connection between said receptacle and said elongated rotary means when said receptacle is raised with said elongated rotary means upwardly to an elevation where said receptacle is situated adjacent said lower portion of said second support means, and releasable holding means carried by said second support means for releasably holding said receptacle adjacent to said second support means when the connection between said receptacle and the said elongated rotary means is released, so that said screw means can then be rotated with respect to said receptacle to empty the latter.

8. The combination of claim 7 and wherein said releasable connecting means includes an annular bearing carried by said receptacle at an upper inner portion thereof and spaced from and surrounding said elongated rotary means, a third support means supported for rotary movement by said annular bearing while being constrained against axial displacement with respect thereto, a pair of opposed lock levers turnably carried by said third support means, springs carried by said third support means and urging said lock levers to locking positions, and lock members carried by said elongated rotary means and engaged by said lock levers for locking said third support means to said rotary means, said release means displacing said lock levers in opposition to said springs to unlocking positions where they are spaced from said lock members carried by said elongated rotary means to release said third support means from the latter.

9. The combination of claim 8, said lock members including a pair of projections fixed to said rotary means and having downwardly directed shoulders, said lock levers having inner free ends engageable beneath said shoulders for locking said third support means to said rotary means, and said third support means including an inner tube freely surrounding said elongated rotary means and said lock members thereof and respectively formed with slots through which said inner ends of said lock levers extend into engagement with said lock members, said slots having bottom ends against which said levers are pressed by said springs, and said release means engaging outer ends of said levers for displacing said inner ends thereof upwardly away from said bottom ends of said slots to place said levers in said unlocking positions thereof.

10. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said boom supports said second support means for longitudinal movement along said boom while said elongated rotary means is in the form of a telescoped pipe assembly capable of providing raising and lowering of said lower end portion of said elongated rotary means with respect to said second support means, and a pair of elevation-adjusting means carried by said first support means and respectively connected to said second support means and said elongated rotary means for separately controlling the elevation of said second support means and the elevation of said lower end portion of said elongated rotary means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,787,001 12/1930 Hunt 175-203 1,883,013 10/1932 Shinn 175-203 1,895,901 1/1933 Smith 175203 2,007,666 7/1935 Smith 175162 X 2,810,550 10/1957 Cohen l162 2,910,274 10/1959 Scott 203 X 3,106,258 10/1963 Muller l75162 X 3,356,163 12/1967 Rowe 61--53.5 X

NILE C. BYERS, 111., Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 6153.5; 17343 

